Pay to Play Lives, Despite Scott's Wealth

Wednesday

Aug 21, 2013 at 12:40 AM

During the 2010 gubernatorial campaign, a new candidate came on the scene who had never held or run for political office. Many weary voters, tired of business as usual in politics, liked the idea of an outsider.

By Paula Dockery

During the 2010 gubernatorial campaign, a new candidate came on the scene who had never held or run for political office.Many weary voters, tired of business as usual in politics, liked the idea of an outsider. It was refreshing to see a self-made multimillionaire self-fund to avoid being indebted to the big-moneyed political establishment.Rick Scott, shut out from all the normal money streams, decried the party apparatus. He vowed to spend $20 million of his own money to secure the Republican nomination, despite the party stacking the deck for its nominee. He actually spent $50 million in the primary election and more than $70 million through the general election.Despite naysayers' claims of Scott buying the election, many voters liked the idea of a candidate spending his own money rather than engaging in the high-dollar back scratching that's prevalent in political campaigns.Tea party folks cheered wildly when Scott exclaimed on election night that those political insiders who preferred the status quo were "crying in their cocktails" over his victory.But they never really had to take out their hankies. Before you could say "there, there," money was flowing freely into Scott's Let's Get to Work political action committee.Scott's PAC was originally financed with family money. Scott's wife, Ann, deposited roughly $13 million between June 2010 and August 2010. But after the primary, generous gestures of good will replenished the coffers.Health Care Insurance giant Blue Cross Blue Shield injected at least $837,500, U.S. Sugar Corp. sweetened the pot with at least $300,000 and The GEO Group, which was hoping for private prison contracts, delivered $200,000.The 48-page contribution list — www.letsgettowork.net/contributions — is a veritable who's who of those with business before the state.Gaming interests contributed heavily in January, while the insurance industry targeted March, when the legislative session begins.Heritage Insurance, which contributed at least $140,000, was awarded a $52 million contract in May to absorb 60,000 policies from Citizens, the state-backed insurer. At the time, Heritage Property and Casualty Insurance had been licensed for less than a year.Scott initially distanced himself from the controversial deal, but emails obtained by The Associated Press show that the Scott administration met with a Heritage representative in March. Hmm, wonder if it was March 5, the day a $100,000 check made its way to Scott's PAC?In April, Sarasota showed the governor some love. Notable among the contributor names were developers Pat and John Neal of Neal Communities. In April they contributed $35,000 to add to their $50,000 contribution from March. Randall Benderson had a similar pattern of giving, with a March check for $100,000, followed in April with an additional $25,000.In 2011, after his first session, the governor pleased his tea party base by vetoing $615 million from the budget, including $5 million for a proposed Sarasota rowing park to be built by Benderson Development.Over the next two sessions, the project the governor vetoed because it "lacked a statewide purpose," received a total of $10 million in state funding, doubling down on the original $5 million that was vetoed.These outcomes don't look or smell right to reasonable observers. In fact, they send the message that powerful politicians are shaking down special interests.With finance reports online, it is incumbent on the media to expose potential quid pro quo deals.The governor's independent wealth, his eagerness to please his fiscally conservative base and his insistence that things would be different in his administration offered hope that he would set a different tone.Unfortunately, it appears "pay to play" is alive and well — and the governor is toasting the dry-eyed cocktail crowd that continues to feed the kitty.